Joining three short plays by
Tennessee Wiliams together, Mr. D Theatre presents an exploration
into human sexuality, domination, and the pursuit of ownership.
The three plays -27
Wagons Full of Cotton,Talk
To Me Like The Rain And Let Me Listen, andKingdom of Earth - were written across three decades. The trilogy
distills the essence of Tennessee Williams and
a narrative rich in
symbolism emerges about the creation of modern American culture
and sexuality.

Joe Layon
and Daisy Boulton

Flora leaves her house in a small town in Mississippi when a fire
breaks out on the plantation near her residence. When
her husband Jake, who owns a cotton gin, returns home he
impresses on her that she needs to lie about him being at
the house the entire day. The next afternoon, the superintendent
of the plantation, Silva, visits the house of a very happy
Jake who has been commissioned to transport 27 wagons of cotton
in light of the recent fire. Jake brags about this as he leaves.
The suspicious Silva approaches Flora to find out the truth about
the fire, no matter what. Flora is a childlike and
defenceless woman who is treated like a plaything by her crude
husband Jake. She resembles Nora in A Doll's
House but unlike Ibsen's heroine she is too weak and
dependent to ever consider breaking out of her prison.

The next segment of the playfeatures a young
loafer who spends his time sleeping on a seedy mattress and
drinking away his unemployment check while his long suffering
girlfriend dreams of leaving him and never coming back. As the
rain is falling, she tells the boy about her dream.

The final part of the evening takes place on a small farm in
Mississippi. Lot is returning with his new wife Myrtle.
Unbeknownst to her Lot is dying and his half-brother Chicken
hopes Lot will take his last breath soon so he can inherit the
house and be master of the land. Lot's new wife and prospective
widow might interfere with his plans so Chicken bluntly tells her
that he will only help her up to the roof to save her from the
approaching flood if she hands over her marriage licence. As soon
as Myrtle realises who is in charge of the bread basket, she
focuses on Chicken, dismissing her dying husband. Chicken is a
cruel and hard man who doesn't care for the weak: "Life will
never be soft." He has been isolated because of the rumour that
"Negro blood" is running through his veins and he willingly
succumbs to Myrtle's charms, yet never forgetting about his
number one objective - ownership of the house and land.

Christopher Hosking's production shows a cruel world that crashes
the weak, usually women. Jake and Chicken are rough and crude men
without any feeling for others. Joe Layton portrays them with the
right dose of machismo and ruthlessness. Daisy Boulton is frail
like a trapped bird as Flora and seductive in a very calculating
way as Myrtle. Zachary Fall is at first suave and cunning and
then sexually threatening as Silva. Francesca David designed a
set consisting of sheets and light - shadows are used to great
effect to display some of the most unsettling scenes. The
costumes are soiled, indicating the seediness of the sordid
lives Williams' characters lead.